A cross cultural study of addressing form in greetings in vietnamese and english

vinh university
foreign language department
----------***----------

a cross-cultural study of addressing forms in
greetings in vietnamese and english
(Nghiên cứu giao thoa văn hóa về cách xng hô trong lời chào
hỏi trong tiếng việt và tiếng anh)

Summary of Graduation thesis
field: LINGUISTICS

Student

: hoàng thị kim dung

Supervisor

: lê thị thúy hà, m.a


Vinh, 05/ 2010

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to give the first word of the deepest thank to my lecturer Mrs. Le Thi
Thuy Ha who zealously instructs me carefully to complete this research.
I would like to thank my teachers in the Department of Foreign Languages of Vinh
university, especially Mr. Ngoc Tuong who helps me answer a plenty of difficult questions
involving in cross-cultural communication field and I am greatly indebted to all my
relationships who gave me their enthusiasm and encouraged much to write this research.
Finally, my gratitude is sent to my friends. In the process of preparing the research,

I received much help from them, especially my classmates. Although they were very busy,
they were very ready to help me search the cross- cultural material on internet.
I give them all my thank and honesty !

Vinh, May 14th, 2010
Hoang Thi Kim Dung


TABLE OF CONTENT
Acknowledgement ……………………………………………………….....
Table of Content………………………………………………………….....
List of Tables and Figure……………………………………………….....
Part A: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………..

I
II
IV
VII
1. Rationale of the Study…………………………………………………… VII
2. Aims of the Study……………………………………………………….. VIII
3. Scope of the Study……………………………………………………..... VIII
4. Method of the Study…………………………………………………….. IX
5. Organization of the Study……………………………………………….. IX
Part B: DEVELOPMENT………………………………………………... 1
Chapter 1: Theoretical Background…………………………………… 1
1.1 Language and Culture…………………………........……………………. 1
1.1.1 What is Language?.................................................................................... 1
1.1.2 What is Culture?........................................................................................
1
1.1.3 The Relation between Language and Cuture.............................................

2
1.2 Communication and Cross-Cultural Communication………………...... 3
1.2.1 Communication ………………………………………………………..... 3
1.2.1.1 Definition of Communication…………………………………………... 3
1.2.1.2 The Role of Addressing Forms in Communication…………………….. 3
1.2.2 Cross- Cultural Communication………………………………………… 4
1.3 Cultural Competence and Communicative Competence……………….. 5
1.3.1 Cultural Competence……………………………………………………... 5
1.3.2 Communicative Competence……………………………………………... 6
1.4 Cross- Cultural Pragmatics………………………………………………. 6
1.4.1 Speech Act………………………………………………………………... 7
1.4.2 Politeness………………………………………………………………..... 8
1.5 Cross- Cuture of Addressing Forms in Greetings………………………. 10

Chapter 2: Addressing Forms in Greetings in Vietnamese and
English………………………………………………………………………… 12
2.1 Addressing Forms in Greetings……………………….………………......
2.1.1 Greetings………………………………………………………………......
2.1.2 Addressing Forms in Greetings…………………………………………...
2.2 The Basic Forms of Address………………………………………………
2.2.1 Personal Pronouns…………………………………………………………
2.2.2 Titles………………………………………………………………………
2.2.3 Provisional Forms of Address…………………………………………......
2.2.4 Other Forms of Address…………………………………………………...
2.3 Addressing Forms in Greetings in VietNamese and English……………
2.3.1 Addressing Forms ………………..………..……………………………...
2.3.1.1 In Vietnamese…………………………………………………………...
2.3.1.2 In English…………………………………………………......................
2.3.2 Addressing Forms in Greetings………………………….………………

12
12
12
13
13
13
14
14
15
15
15
16
17


2.3.2.1 In Vietnamese……………………..........................................................
2.3.2.2 In English…………………………………………………......................
Chapter 3: Data Analysis………………………………………………….
3.1 The survey questionnaires……………………………………………...……
3.2 Description of the subjects…………………………………………………..
3.3 Data Analysis………………………………………………………………..
3.3.1 Comments on addressing forms offered by the British and American
subjects…………………………………………………………………………..
3.3.1.1 Data on British and American subjects’ personal information………….
3.3.1.2 Data on addressing forms offered by the British and American subjects
3.3.2 Comments on addressing forms offered by the Vietnamese subjects…......
3.3.2.1 Data on Vietnamese subjects’ personal information……………………
3.3.2.2 Data on addressing forms offered by the Vietnamese subjects…………
3.3.3 Similarities and Differences between Vietnamese and English-American
informants in Using Addressing Forms in Greetings…………………………...

17
18
21
21
21
21
21
22
23
36
36
37
50

3.3.3.1 Comparision on Greeting Factors …………………................................

50

3.3.3.2 Comparision on the Reasons of Avoidance……………………………..

51

3.3.3.3 Comparision on Addressing Forms in Greetings without any Personal
Information……………………………………………………………………...

51

3.3.3.4 Comparision on Greeting Teachers………………………………....…..

52

3.3.3.5 Comparision on Greeting Friends…………………………....................

53

3.3.3.6 Comparision on Greeting Someone………………………………….....

54

3.3.3.7 Comparision on Greeting the Most Powerful Person………………..…

55

3.3.3.8 Comparision on Greeting Parents’ Friend…………………………...…

56

3.3.3.9 Comparision on Greeting a Colleague……………………….....………
3.3.3.10 Comparision on Greeting Parents………………………......…………

58
60

Part C: CONCLUSION…………………………………………………

63

References……………………………………………………………………
Appendix

64


List of Table and Figures
Page
Table 1: The basic forms of address
15
Table 2: The proper forms of address can be used in greetings.
18
Table 3: British and American subjects’ information regarding gender, marital status, age. 22
Table 4: British and American subjects’ information regarding the place they have been

Table

living and education level.
Table 5: The factors affecting on the way to address in greeting of the British and

22

American subjects.
Table 6: The reasons that sometimes the British and American subjects do not use

23

addressing forms in greeting.
Table 7: The forms of address used by British and American subjects in greeting someone

24

but do not know any information about them
Table 8: The number of British and American subjects used the first name of their teacher

25
26


to greet them
Table 9: Forms of address used by British and American subjects when they greet their
friends
Table 10: Addressing forms in greeting someone used by British and American subjects.
Table 11: Forms of address used by British and American subjects to greet the most

27
28

powerful person in their country.
Table 12: Forms of address used by British and American subjects to greet a parents’

29

friend but do not know his name
Table 13: Forms of address used by British and American subjects to greet a parents’

30

friend and know his name
Table 14: Regarding the age
Table 15: Regarding the sex
Table 16: Regarding the age and social status

31
32
33
33
34

Table 17: How will you address to greet your parents when you get married and have children

Table 18: The number of British and American subjects using the first name to greet their
parents
Table 19: Forms of address used by the British and American subjects to greet their

35

family’s members in the morning
Table 20: Vietnamese subjects’ information regarding gender, marital status, age.
Table 21: Vietnamese subjects’ information regarding the place they have been living and

35
36

education level
Table 22: The factors affecting on the way to greet of the Vietnamese subjects.
Table 23: The reasons why sometimes the Vietnamese subjects do not use the addressing

36
37

forms in greeting.

Table 24: The forms of address used by Vietnamese subjects in greeting someone but do

38

not know any information about them
Table 25: The number of Vietnamese subjects used the first name of their teacher to greet

39

them
Table 26: Forms of address used by Vietnamese subjects when they greet their friends
Table 27: Addressing forms in greeting someone used by Vietnamese subjects.
Table 28: Forms of address used by Vietnamese subjects to greet the most powerful

40
40
42

person in their country.
Table 29: Forms of address used by Vietnamese subjects to greet a parents’ friend but do

43

not know his name
Table 30: Forms of address used by Vietnamese subjects to greet a parents’ friend and

44

know his name
Table 31: Regarding the age

Table 32: Regarding sex
Table 33: Regarding the age and social status
Table 34: How will you address to greet your parents when you get married and have

45
46
47
47
48


Children
Table 35: The number of Vietnamese subjects using the first name to greet their parents
Table 36: Forms of address used by the Vietnamese subjects to greet their family’s

48

members in the morning

49

Figure

Page

Figure 1: The most important factor having affect on the way to address in greeting of the
British and American subjects.
Figure 2: The most important factor having affect on the way to greet of the Vietnamese

24

subjects.
Figure 3: The most important factor having affect on the way to greet of the British and

38

American - Vietnamese subjects.
Figure 4: The reasons that Vietnamese and British American do not use addressing forms

50

in greetings.
Figure 5: The forms of address used by British-American and Vietnamese subjects in

51

greeting someone without any personal information
Figure 6: The number of British American and Vietnamese subjects used the first name of

52

their teacher to greet them.
Figure 7: Addressing forms in greeting close friends used by British American and

52

Vietnamese subjects
Figure 8: Addressing forms in greeting normal friend used by British American and

53

Vietnamese subjects
Figure 10: Addressing forms in greeting someone used by British American and

54

Vietnamese subjects for the later time.
Figure 11: Addressing forms in greeting the most powerful person used by British

55

American and Vietnamese subjects for the first time.
Figure 12: Addressing forms in greeting the most powerful person used by British

55

American and Vietnamese subjects for the later time.
Figure 13: Addressing forms in greeting a parents’ friend but do not know his name used

56

by British American and Vietnamese subjects for the first time.
Figure 14: Addressing forms in greeting a parents’ friend but do not know his name used

57

by British American and Vietnamese subjects for the later time.
Figure 15: Addressing forms in greeting a parents’ friend and know his name used by

57

British American and Vietnamese subjects for the first time.
Figure 16: Addressing forms in greeting a parents’ friend and know his name used by

58

British American and Vietnamese subjects for the later time.
Figure 17: Regarding the colleague 10 years older than speaker
Figure 18: Regarding the colleague 10 years younger than speaker
Figure 19: Regarding the colleague with higher position but younger than speaker

58
59
59
60


Figure 20: Regarding the colleague with lower position but older than speaker
Figure 21: The ways to address in greeting parents when British American and

60

Vietnamese subjects get married and have children.
Figure 22: The number of British American and Vietnamese subjects using the first name

61

to greet their parents

61

PART A. INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the Study
An emphasis on language as a communication system is really necessary in an age
of globalization. Not only does it help uncover principles underlying social interactions,
but also enables us to gain an access to ways of thinking, belief systems, and world views
of people from various cultural backgrounds and thus enhances empathy and mutual
understanding. Investigating issues concerning cross cultural communication is especially
momentous in today’s time, when national boundaries are becoming less visible, and more
people are engaging in intercultural communication. Understanding social conventions and
attention to such concepts as politeness, and face, which are important to members in a
particular culture, will certainly enable us to better comprehend the different ways of
speaking by people from different cultures, thus helping eliminate ethnic stereotypes and
misunderstanding.
There have been so far plenty of researches on the field of politeness from various
perspectives. Yet, addressing forms in languages is still an area available for more
explorations. This research has chosen addressing forms as a potential subject. This study
is done not only to see the similarities and differences between the two cultures. Another
goal of this research is to give the awareness of the language learners about the politeness
of addressing forms in language, and to offer several suggestions in using the appropriate
forms of addressing.
Nevertheless, addressing forms is a very broad area, and within the limit of the
study, it is impossible to discuss all aspects of addressing forms in languages. As greetings
is the first step and it is also the most important in a conversation, so it required the
speakers must address exactly in order not to lose the face of the hearers. This is where
addressing forms can mostly be considered. That is the reason why addressing forms in
greetings is chosen for the project.


For any of those purposes, the study promises to make itself meaningful, reliable

and applicable to the reality.

2. Aims of the Study
For all the reasons mentioned above, the study contains with the following different
aims:
First of all, the study can help learners know more about the relation between
language and communication, culture and cross- cultural communication.
Secondly, we know that addressing forms is one of the important factors in
conversation, that is why this study can help learners and users of English know how to
address their interlocutors in a specific circumstance reasonably by using suitable forms of
address.
Lastly, cross-cultural study can give us a chance to find out the similarities and
differences in two countries through their cultures. Thus, this study supports the
fundamental knowledge of culture for Vietnamese users of English as students, translators
and learners in order to avoid cultural shocks or cross- cultural conflicts involving the
addressing forms in greetings in global communication.

3. Scope of the Study
Addressing forms in communication is really an interesting issue, especially in
cross-cultural communication. There are many famous Vietnamese and foreign linguistics
and scholars having done researches on this linguistic field such as : Brown and Ford
(1962), Robinson (1972), etc. and Nguyễn Văn Chiến (1992, 1993), Nguyễn Quang
(2001), Nguyễn Vân Dung (2005), etc. They have analyzed or compared almost all aspects
of this field. However, in cross-cultural communication we want to reach communicate
goal and also have to use addressing forms into consideration. A person in different
relationships has different addressing forms. The speaker may be children, parents,
brothers in family or relatives. The speaker may be in high or low rank in office, he/she
may be older or younger compared to interlocutors. Therefore, the study enable learners
thoroughly understand addressing forms of the foreign language in comparison with
mother tongue are very necessary. In this paper, we only deal with the characteristics of the

addressing forms in greetings in Vietnamese and English and the similarities and
differences in using them in cross- cultural communication.

4. Method of the Study
The first step was to search the library and the Internet for books, magazines and
articles on etiquette, especially on addressing forms in greetings as well as previous
research in the field.
The main method employed in this study is quantitative with material collecting and
analyzing.

5. Organization of the Study
This research consists of three main parts. They are:
Part A is the introduction of the research paper in which the author presents the
reasons for choosing the subject, the aims, the scope, the methods and the organization of
the study.
Part B is the development contenting with three main chapters:
Chapter I: Theoretical background
Chapter II: Addressing forms in greetings of Vietnamese and English
Chapter III: Data Analysis
Part C is the conclusion of the research paper, which summarizes the contents
mentioned in part B.
Besides three main parts, the research paper also opens with the acknowledgements,
the table of contents, list of table and ends with the references.


PART B. DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1: Theoretical Background
1.1 Language and Culture

1.1.1 What is Language?
In order to discuss about the using of language in greetings, one must first determine
the answer to the following question: what is language? There are many answers to this
question. According to Dronker, “Language is the remarkable system that allows people to
communicate an unlimited combination of ideas using a highly structured stream of
sounds”. Language is the method of human communication, either spoken or written,
consisting of the use of words in an agreed way.
As we know that, a language is a system of signs (indices, icons, symbols) for
encoding and decoding information. So, language is a system for communicating. Written
language use symbols (that is, characters) to build words. The entire set of words is the
language’s vocabulary. The ways in which the words can be meaningfully combined is
defined by the language’s syntax and grammar. The actual meaning of words and
combinations of words is defined by the language’s semantics.
1.1.2 What is Culture?
Culture is the combination of all the physical and behavioral aspects of a society. To
study the people within a society, how they function, and what they value can give us more
thorough understanding of society. When we think about culture, we are concerned with
the way people live. The way people think, feel, believe and strive for what is proper in
their culture. On the other hand, culture includes all knowledge, belief, art, morals, law,
custom and any other capacities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.
Culture is also a historically transmitted, socially constructed system of beliefs, premises,


symbols and their meanings that pertain to a group of people. So we can consider culture as
a tool that our families and societies instill in us to get through life.
Deen Levine (1987), culture is like an iceberg, most of which is deep within the ocean
just much of culture is deep within people. The tip of the iceberg is easy to see. This
includes the visible aspects and do’s and taboo of working in other cultures. The remaining
huge chuck of the iceberg hidden below the surface includes the invisible aspects of a
culture such as the values, traditions, experience and behaviors that define each culture.

According to the social scientists, a people’s culture consists of all the ideas, objects,
and ways of doing things created by the group. Culture is a complex whole that social
scientists can break down into simple units called “cultural traits”. A trait may be a custom,
such as burial of the dead; a gesture, such as a handshake or an idea, such as democracy.
Following this understanding, cultural trait may be an act, such as greeting. And addressing
forms in greetings also belongs to a cultural trait. Culture is a system of resources for
understanding the world around your lives. From above definition, we could know more
about what cross-culture is.
According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary, 7th edition, cross-culture is a
term involving or containing ideas from two or more different countries or cultures. In
Vietnamese, according to Vietnamese Linguistics written by Nguyen Quang Hung, cross
culture is defined as the contact, the affective exchange, the interaction among cultural
aspects of different ethnics.
Thus, there is no countries in the world can exist without having cross culture with
others today.
1.1.3 The Relation between Language and Culture
The connection between the human capacities for culture and language has been noted
as far back as classical antiquity. As language and culture are both in essence symbolic
systems, 20th century cultural theorists, have applied the methods of analyzing language
developed in the science of linguistics to also analyze culture.


According to Eugene A. Nida, the relation between language and culture is more
complex than the coordinate title language and culture would suggest. Language is, of
course, an integral part of culture, defined simplistically as the totality of beliefs and
practices of a society. Furthermore, the semantic content of language is always related to
the entities, events, states, processes, characteristics and relations within culture, and
culture depends in large measure on language in order to function and to perpetuate itself.
It is not strange, therefore, that most of the serious mistake in translation are the result of
not recognizing the intimate relations between language and culture.

1.2 Communication and Cross-Cultural Communication
1.2.1 Communication
1.2.1.1 Definition of Communication
Communication is a process by which information is exchanged between individuals
through a common system of symbols, signs or behavior. It is clearly seen that the way we
communicate and the way we understand another person’s communication is a result of our
knowledge and past experiences. That means communication can take place anywhere and
is carried out by anybody. People communicate as eye contact, facial expression,
proximity, posture, gesture and verbal language which is more used. Communication
clearly does involve a set of interacting process in which participant attempts to make
others understand what he means, and vice versa.
In

communication,

interlocutors

show

their

attitude,

relationship,

mood,

understanding, confusion and a whole range of other things and convey a range of
meanings in deferent cultures, from insults to approval or even attraction.

1.2.1.2 The Role of Addressing Forms in Communication
In communication, participants do anything to make others understand what he
means; it means that the goal of communication is successfully achieved. And language
plays an important role in conveying our thinking and expressing our feeling and attitude
in daily communication, meanwhile, addressing forms belongs to the language system.
That is why using address forms is compulsory in communication. It allows participants to


make turn taking, reveal relationship, social status, and so on. Participants are both
speakers and listeners involved directly in conversation. And using forms of address,
especially forms of address in greetings can help us know interlocutors’ emotion, feeling as
well as their knowledge, culture, politeness and respect to each other. People who are
involved in conversation should depend on objects and other features of communicative
situation such as age, sex, family relationship, social status and power. Considering the
following conversation as an example:
Man 1: Good morning. Here’s my ticket
Bus driver: Good morning, Dr Jones
Man 2: … ’morning, Oh, good morning, Dr Jones!
Are you going to the clinic this morning?
Man 1: Oh, good morning, professor!
No, I’m going to hospital this morning
(Malkocs, 1993, p.32)
In this conversation, participants’ career, social status and their relationship as well as
their attitude towards each other can be seen clearly. They show their respect to each other
by addressing their names with title and show their friendliness to bus driver in greetings
by only saying “Good morning”, or “Morning”. Through the example above, it is clear that
using addressing forms in greetings is undeniably necessary in communication.
1.2.2 Cross-Cultural Communication
The advent of the global economy today is changing the fundamental nature of our
governments, businesses, organizations and populations. As a result, we are no longer

constrained by state boundaries but have all become part of an interdependent international
network. One of the key changes this has triggered is the need to communicate effectively
with different people in different languages, from different cultures.
It is now recognized that linguistic and cultural knowledge are two of the most vital
areas of knowledge that organizations must come to acquire if they are to integrate,


progress and succeed in the market place. Cross-cultural communication is a must! So
what is cross- cultural communication?
The author thinks that communication is culture bound. The way an individual
communicates emanates from his or her culture. Of course, a person may know more than
one culture or may be competent in a combination of cultures. Nonetheless, one basic truth
prevails: communication is a product of culture. So cross-cultural communication (also
frequently referred to as intercultural communication which is also used in a different
sense, though) is a field of study that looks at how people from different cultural
backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they
endeavour to communicate across cultures.

1.3 Cultural Competence and Communicative Competence
1.3.1 Cultural Competence
It is said that culture is communication and vice versa. So in order to know about
communicative competence, we have to know what is cultural competence first. According
to Cross et al, 1989, “Cultural competence is defined as a set of congruent behaviors,
attitudes and policies that come together as a system, agency or among professionals and
enable that system, agency or those professionals to work effectively in cross- cultural
situations”. On the other hand, cultural competence is the ability to understand behavior
from the standpoint of the members of a culture and to behave in a way that would be
understood by the members of the culture in the intended way. Cultural competence
therefore involves understanding all aspects of a culture, but particularly the social
structure, the values and beliefs of the people, and the way things are assumed to be done.

As we have known, cultural competence requires that organizations have a defined set
of values and principles and demonstrate behaviors, attitudes, policies, and structures that
enable them to work effectively cross- culturally.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia on internet, “Cultural competence refers to an
ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures. Cultural competence
comprises four components: awareness of one’s own cultural worldview; attitude towards


cultural differences; knowledge of different cultural practices and worldviews and crosscultural skills”. Developing cultural competence results in an ability to understand,
communicate with, and effectively interact with people across cultures.
1.3.2 Communicative Competence
Communicative competence is the ability to use the language system appropriately in
any circumstances, with regard to the functions and the varieties of language as well as
shared socio-cultural suppositions.
According to Janice Light, “Communicative competence is a relative and dynamic,
interpersonal construct based on functionality of communication, adequacy of
communication, and sufficiency of knowledge, judgment, and skill in four interrelated
areas: linguistic competence, operational competence, social competence, and strategic
competence. Linguistic and operational competencies refer to knowledge and skills in the
use of the tools of communication; social and strategic competencies reflect functional
knowledge and judgement in interaction”.
Thus, in order to be aware of communication competence, the language learners have
to know interaction skills, linguistic knowledge and culture knowledge. To be
communicative competent means, roughly speaking, to be able to communicate that which
you wish to communicate.

1.4 Cross- Cultural Pragmatics
Pragmatics is the study of language as action and of the social contexts in which the
linguistic action takes place or the language is used. So cross- cultural pragmatics is the
study of linguistic action carried out by language users from different ethno linguistic

backgrounds.
According to Yule, cross-cultural pragmatics is the study of different expectations
based on cultural schemata among different communities regarding how meaning is
constructed.
Being known what is cross-cultural pragmatics, we should know more about what
pragmatic is.


According to George Keith, pragmatics is all about the meaning between the lexis and
the grammar and the phonology. Meanings are implied and the rules being followed are
unspoken, unwritten ones. Pragmatics studies the factors that govern our choice of
language in social interaction and the effects of our choice on others.
In this research, the author will present two theoretical approaches to cross-cultural
pragmatic field. They are speech act and politeness theory. Following these theories, we
can see clearly the effects and production of speech acts as well as politeness across
cultures.
1.4.1 Speech Act
According to Yule (1996), speech act is one of the central phenomena that any general
pragmatic theory must account for. In fact, means actions performed via utterances are
generally called speech acts. On any occasion, the action performed by producing an
utterance will consist of three related acts: locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary
act. The first one, locutionary act is the basic act of utterance, of producing a meaningful
linguistic express. The second one, illocutionary act is the function of the utterance that
speaker has in mind that is what kind of speech act the utterance counts as. And the last
one, perlocutionary act refers to the hearer recognization of the illocutionary act.
To communicate is to express a certain attitude, and the type of speech act being
performed corresponds to the type of attitude being expresses. For example, a statement
expresses a belief, a request expresses a desire and an apology expresses regret. As an act
of communication, a speech act succeeds if the audience identifies, in accordance with the
speaker’s intention, the attitude being expressed. Since language is intentional behavior, it

should be treated like a form of action. Thus the speech act is the basic unit of language
used to express meaning, an utterance that expresses an intention. Normally, the speech act
is a sentence, but it can be a word of a phrase as long as it follows the rules necessary to
accomplish the intention. When one speaks, one performs an act. Speech is not just used to
predicate something, but it actually does something. Though making a statement may be
the paradigmatic use of language, there are all sorts of other things we can do with words.
We can make request, ask question, give orders, give thanks, do greetings, make promises


and so on. Speech act stresses the intent of the act as a whole. Understanding the speaker’s
intention is essential to capture the meaning.
Using addressing forms in greetings can be treated as speech acts. Because addressing
forms is set up to perform intentions and to express the attitudes of the addressee, for
example: to make an effective conversation or successful communication, to make
respective attitude etc.
1.4.2 Politeness
Politeness is one of the most important aspects of human communication: human
beings can only exist in peace together if certain basic conventions of politeness are
observed.
Brown and Levinson (1987) produced the most comprehensive theory of politeness to
date, the basic of which is used for analytical purposes in this thesis. They argue that polite
linguistic behavior shows up as a deviation against the rational and efficient nature of talk,
but through a consideration of linguistic politeness, the hearer finds reasons for the
speaker’s apparent irrationality or inefficiency.
It is possible to consider politeness as a fixed concept, as mentioned by Yule (1996:
60), as in the idea of polite social behavior or etiquette, within a culture. It is also possible
to specify a number of different general principles for being polite in social interaction
within a particular culture. They might compose being tactful, generous, modest and
sympathetic toward others. Although the participants in an interaction are generally aware
that such norms and principles exist in the society, there is a specified type of politeness at

work within an interaction. In order to describe it, we need the concept of face.
According to Goffman (1957), “face is the public self- image of a person”. It is a
technical term, refers to that emotional and social sense of self that everyone has and
expects everyone else to recognize. Politeness, in an interaction, can then be defined as the
means employed to show awareness of another person’s face. In this sense, politeness can
be accomplished in situations of social distance or closeness. Showing awareness for
another person’s face when that other seems socially distant is often described in terms of
respect or deference. Showing the equivalent awareness when the other is socially close is


often described in terms of friendliness, camaraderie or solidarity. Face consists of two
related aspects: positive face and negative face.
Brown and Levinson (1987) define positive face refers to “the positive self- image
that people have and want to be appreciated and approved by at least some people”. In
other words, positive face is seen as the desire that others like, admire, value or approve of
one’s wants on the need to be accepted and like by others.
“A person’s negative face is the need to be independent, to have freedom of action,
and not to be imposed on by others” (Yule 1996: 61). The word “negative” here does not
mean “bad”, it is just the opposite pole from “positive”. The negative face, therefore, is
reflected in the desire not to be impeded or put upon, to have the freedom to act as one
chooses.
So, in simple terms, negative face is the need to be independent and positive face is
the need to be connected. In general, participants will co-operate with each other due to the
mutual vulner ability of face. However, it is not possible for conversation to flow without a
demand or intrusion being made on another person’s autonomy. Certain illocutionary acts
are liable to damage or threaten another person’s face. Brown and Levinson define the
performance of such utterances as potential face threatening acts (FTAs). When confronted
with the need to perform an FTA, the speaker needs to decide how it should be uttered.
Brown and Levinson argue that the first choice to be made is whether the FTA should
be performed “on record” or “off record”. If the on record strategy is chosen, a speaker can

either perform the FTA baldly without redressive action or mitigate the FTA by uttering it
with redressive action. Performing an act without redressive action involves uttering it in
the most direct, clear, unambiguous way possible. Conversely, performing an act with
redressive action actually gives face to the addressee, making it clear that no face threat it
intended. This can be achieved by adopting the strategies of either positive politeness or
negative politeness.
Positive politeness is redressive action directed towards the addressee’s positive face,
demonstrating that the hearer’s wants or needs are thought of as desirable. In contract,
negative politeness is redressive action directed to the addressee’s negative face,


demonstrating the speaker’s derise not to impose upon the hearer by restricting their
actions.
The off record strategy enables the speaker to avoid the responsibility of performing a
FTA. See the following figure about possible strategies for doing FTAs by Brown and
Levinson:
Without redressive action, badly
On record

2. Positive Politeness
With redressive action

Do the FTA

3. Negative Politeness
Off record

Don’t do the FTA
From the theory of face and politeness, when using address forms in greetings,
speaker can choose to go on record or off record. Thus, it is employed as both positive and

negative strategies.

1.5 Cross-Culture of Addressing Forms in Greetings
Addressing forms in greetings is a phenomenon of language. And as language is
believed to be woven into every fabric of every human culture, it can be said that
addressing forms in greetings is an element of culture.
Although there are plenty disagreements on the definition of culture and the relation
of language and culture, a majority of people agree that culture overwhelms language and
language reflects culture. Nevertheless, cultural features vary from region to region, even
when they speak the same language. That is why their reflections in language are different.
Addressing forms in greetings is not an exception. It is influenced by cultures.
As we mentioned above, each country has its own culture. So cross- culture among
countries can make greetings in general and addressing forms in greetings in particular
have plenty dissimilarities between Vietnamese and English cultures though in this era of
globalization, cultural transfer are commonly seen. Cultures rooted so deeply in people’s


awareness that can not be changed easily in a short time. Each culture still has its own
characteristics and dignity. These dissimilarities between two cultures often create a
phenomenon called cultural shock when people from the two cultures endeavor to
communicate.
The use of addressing forms in greetings by Vietnamese and English people is surely
affected by cultural features and cross-cultural communication. To partially help avoid the
cultural shock in this area, this research will discuss about some main characteristics of the
way Vietnamese and English people using forms of address in greetings. It also can help us
know more about the way we can make a polite greeting by using the forms of address of
Vietnamese and English people.

Chapter 2
Addressing Forms in Greetings in Vietnamese and English

2.1 Addressing Forms in Greetings
2.1.1 Greetings


Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings intentionally make their
presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type of relationship or
social status between individuals or groups of people coming in contact with each other.
According to Stolyarov II, an expression of greeting indicates the willingness to
undertake a transaction of some sort, a universal signal that directs the other party’s
attention toward the agent and at the same time demonstrates the friendly, appreciative
conduct that befits a peaceful trader.
These definitions correlate with the concepts of social- linguistics and pragmatics that
greeting is a part of politeness which is used primarily when people meet each other in
order to make the addressee feel good, be friendly and minimize conflicts.
2.1.2 Addressing Forms in Greetings
Recently, Vietnam has obtained very good relationships with many countries in the
world. It can be seen that knowing how to address each other in the polite ways is one
factor that not only contributes to the friendly atmosphere and the success of the meeting
but also helps to strengthen the partnership, integration and better the communication
between two nations. The ways people address each other in greetings are determined by
the formality of the language and various cultural factors.
As we mentioned other part of the research, politeness is one of the most important
aspects of human communication: human beings can only exist in peace together if certain
basic conversation of politeness are observed. Addressing forms in greetings plays an
important role in making a successful conversation. Because it can make a communication
more effective and avoid the conflicts in communication. Hence, it can be considered as a
politeness phenomenon.

2.2 The Basic Forms of Address
In general, the customary forms of address in a language community can be

incorporated into a system by which a particular form is determined. This part of the


research will present some basic forms of address used effectively in the light of
sociolinguistics and cross- cultural communication
2.2.1 Personal Pronouns
In normal greetings of the conversations, personal pronouns are used widely to
distinguish the speaker “I” from the person or persons addressed “you” and from other
participants “he, she, they”. Pronoun systems distinguish among these three roles, but the
number of personal pronouns in different languages is not the same. There are twenty- two
pronouns in Vietnamese and there are seven in English indicating 1st person, 2nd person,
3rd person, singular and plural.
As we can see that, in both Vietnamese and English language, the personal pronoun
“I” is used when the speaker refers to himself or herself to give personal opinions or points
of view, but the speaker can use the plural personal pronoun “we” when referring to a
group of people or to avoid personal responsibility in a refusal or disagreement. “We” can
also be used to show modesty when the speaker talks about a success or an achievement.
Thus, “we” can be used either “inclusively” for the speaker and address together, or
“exclusively” for the speaker and some third person together. Similarly, the pronoun “you”
can be used for people addressed plus some other people in greetings, for example: “How
are you?”. So thanks to the personal pronouns, the addressee can find an easy way to greet
someone in various roles.
2.2.2 Titles
Normally, a title is used for the speaker as the 1st person in the greetings. It is followed
by the last name or full name of mainly for the addressee and the 2nd person and someone
else as the 3rd person. In Vietnam, a title may sometimes be used on its own. For example:
“Xin chào, ngài giáo sư”- “Hello, Professor”.
As mentioned above, the use of titles in English language and Vietnamese is not as
simple as it might appear.

2.2.3 Provisional Forms of Address


The term ‘provisional’ forms of address means the forms that can be used to address
others just temporarily in certain contexts. In a very formal meeting, the person who chairs
the meeting can be called the chair, the chairman or chairwoman, even the chairperson. Of
these, the chairman is only used if the person is male and the chairwoman is only used
when the person is female, the other two may be used to anyone. Madam chairman now
seems old fashioned. It seems difficult to decide how to address the person who is in the
chair. So it is frequently advisable to ask the one in the chair how they wish to be
addressed and what term they wish to use to describe their own function in order to have a
appropriateness in addressing forms in greetings “Hello, chairman”, “Hello, chairwoman”
or “Hello, chairperson” etc. In Vietnam, it is quite possible to address a person by his or
her official position, for example, Minister “Bộ trưởng” and Director or Rector “Hiệu
trưởng”.
2.2.4 Other Forms of Address
In very formal meetings, when the chairperson addresses everybody in the meeting he
or she often says “Ladies and Gentlemen”, at the opening of a meeting, when postponing a
discussion and closing a meeting insteading of the greetings. Besides “everyone, someone,
anyone, no one” when the speakers refers to people in the meeting generally, they might
use “those” and the equivalence of the plural personal pronoun “they” to avoid “he” which
may offend the female participants. How people are addressed in a very formal meeting
can be indicated in the procedure for a formal meeting. The forms include pronouns, title
plus last name, first name, the Chair, Mr. Chairman, everyone, anyone, no one, someone
and even avoidance of forms of address which means not any forms of address is used. For
example, "Hello" is used in English language. However, Vietnamese always add an
addressing term after the verb of the utterance, namely "Xin chào ông/ bà."
The forms of address can be classified in terms of personal pronouns, titles and other
provisional addressing terms.

Pronouns

Titles

Provisional Forms

Other Forms

I, we

Mr., Mrs., Miss,

Director

His/Your

You

Ms, Dr., Prof., Sir,

Rector

Excellency,

He, she, they
Everyone, anyone,
someone, no one,

Madam,

The Chairperson…

Ladies and

Title + full name,

Gentlemen, full

Mr. Chairman…

name…

those…
Table 1: The basic forms of address in English greetings

2.3 Addressing Forms in Greetings in Vietnamese and English
2.3.1 Addressing Forms
2.3.1.1 In Vietnamese
In Vietnam, addressing forms is the meaningless words used as referent words.
Regarding to vocative, reflexive pronouns and reciprocal words are usually mentioned.
Addressing forms in Vietnamese language has its own characteristics using not only
vocative but other word classes as person reference. Vietnamese address forms may
consists of the followings:
Personal pronouns are also called the authentic addressing: tơi, tớ, mày, tao, tau,
mình, etc.
Kinship terms- noun referring to blood or family relationship: ông, bà, cơ, chú, bác,
dì, mẹ, cha etc. Vietnamese kinship terms that show correlation in family, in lineage are
more complicated than English ones. The use of Vietnamese kinship terms is to address the
hierarchical relation among the referents (the speaker, the hearer and the third party). This

is not unlike the practice of using kinship terms with small children in English. According
to Nguyen Quang (2001), in Vietnamese, addressing forms appears dynamic relationship.
Proper name (given name): Loan, Phuc, Nhan...
Nouns referring to profession or status in society: thưa giám đốc, bác sỹ, giáo sư…